Korean Job Discussion Forums

[adventureman]

......With esl education in Korea?

Here are some of the ones I could came up with (keeping in mind I don't live in Seoul and work in a public school)....

1. Many Koreans still place too much emphasis on archaic rote/teacher-centered learning and preparation for various exams as their central driving motivation.

2. Many Koreans still think that hiring any native speaker with a BA and no education qulaifications for a teaching job will suffice in any situation, when this is obviously not the case.

3. Many Korean students, similar to American studens, see no practical value in the study of a second langauage and thus interest can wan vey quicky (many students in my school view English as nothing more than pure novelty).

4. Becasue Korea is a homogenous country, many Koreans don't have to/don't feel the need to spend enough time focusing on the practical uses of learning English outside the classroom and thus speaking English becomes something that feels unnatural and forced for them.

5. Becasue Korea has been isolated for so many years, many Koreans still do not have enough experience interacting with foreigners to ease the ackwardness and feel more comfortable interacting within the context of true native speaker parlance.

6. Many Koreans still place themselves and their language on an entirely different (and I would dare say superior) level from outsiders and these underlying xenphobic elements can heavily influlence their attitudues on studying English from a very young age.

7. Many Korean hagwons owners are still more concerend with profit than education.

8. Class sizes in public schools (35-40) are still too large for a proper langauge learning experience, also cirriclum in public schools is flawed for too many reasons that I won't go into here.

9. Assorted cultural values (for instance the concept of confuciansism and 'saving face', whereas Koreans are too afraid of making mistakes in front other people, esp. their superiors)



Can anybody think of anything else?

[ulsanchris]

[hellofaniceguy]

Caught a glimps of the news this AM...saw the part of the college testing. Once a year...a big thing in korea.
What I thought was...for lack of a better word...ridiculously stupid...was the cops driving students to the exams on cop motorcycles! And cop cars! And these students scraming to exit the cars and motorcycles...running to beat all hell to take the test!
It's all monkey see monkey do in korea. The old adage..if it ain't broke...don't fix it is way out of place in korea! Many things and ways need fixing...big time!
We always here...the education system must change in korea. But...koreans are long on rhetoric and short on specifics. All talk and no action unless it involves anti protest against some country or rice farmers!
No...not anti korea.
I just keep hoping for a better korea for all.
Too much emphasis is spent on learning a language..yet...find me 10 koreans who can speak English fluently amoung those who have been studying at hakwons.
Same with the parents who are pushing their children to learn...I tell the parents...you can't even speak English and your parents forced you to learn...why push your child? Monkey see monkey do.
More approach should be spent on teaching students conversation skills...not grammar....hakwons want grammar because parents want grammar.
Grammar is taught in the public schools. Hakwons don't need to be wasting students time on grammar. They have 6 plus years of grammar as it is! Wongjanims...you are a bunch of greedy parasites only concerned with money and how much the foreign teachers who you despise can make you.

[phaedrus]

[Ilsanman]

Too much comparison to their own language, and can't seem to get to through their pee brains how different the 2 languages are.

Also, too much time spent learning math, science, etc again and again, and the human brain just has limits. You can only absorb so much in one day.

In addition to this, working the kids too hard, and with an unhealthy diet of ��� and other crap, they are too tired and can't learn properly.

And many things the OP said too are correct.

[Paji eh Wong]

It's related to a lot of your points, but the thing that gets me is that Koreans seem to learn english for the wrong reasons. They don't learn it so they can talk to outsiders, they learn it so they can get a good TOEFL score, get into a good university, and impress other Koreans. It's dumb.

[CanadaCommando]

10) No regiment curriculum. Back home, the reasons that Academies and such are useful is because they are supplimental to the goverment derived curriculum. Here, hakwons pick random books, or teachers make lessons, which although maybe meant to be beneficial, follows no long term progression. Whatever lesson you teach, little Han may well have learned in hogwan last year...or last month for that matter.

11) Korean Education approach English as if it WAS a second language. But really, its EFL. How many times do you think Koreans practice or use their ability outside the classroom. If they're not dating a white person, or working in Itaewon, likely never. No immersion aspect at all. Hey, its great that every kid I meet has learned enough english to say "Hello". But thats probably the most they have every spoken outside the classroom. My English Deparment Head has said he will never put his kids in an Hagwon, the money would be far better used to send the child overseas for a year.


12) Legal regulations for Hogwans/Teachers. Teaching here should be something that is far more regulated. Instructors should be held to a certain level of acountability-whether it be through testing or training courses or what have you. The fact that you are white does not make you a good teacher. The fact that you have a degree in Philosophy does not either (although let me add I do not think it EXCLUDES you either). The fact that Mr. Han can raise some funds, and open up a Hogwan-regardless of his educational background or goals, is likewise ridiculous.

[mindmetoo]

[matthewwoodford]

[matthewwoodford]

[dzeisons]

pretty comprehensive list adventureman

i'd add three sub points related to the korean teaching method of rote learning and grammar translation

1A) a general ignorance of learning strategies- metacognitive and cognitive. koreans should learn 'smarter'. they also have the bbali bbali syndrome with unrealistic expectations of how hard it is to learn any language

1B) learning decontextualised lists of words- it used to amaze me the number of students who are of 'intermediate' proficiency of english but you can barely understand them. you can understand the words, they are english, but the words are just wrong. something a lot of korean learners aren't aware of is context and how a word is actually used ina sentence.

1C) suprasegmental pronunciation- i would say 100% of the students i taught aren't even aware of this. e.g. english vowels are reduced if they're not stressed. that's why their (in general) pronunciation is often unnatural. students with a good ear pick this up without being aware of it.

[CanadaCommando]

[Harkkonenlad]

In my last school the students (with some excellent exceptions) seemed to think of going to the Hagwon as "Just another private school stop-off for the day". Such a difficult workload for children so young. The curriculum could really be more interesting for the kids, but I dont write it and nor am I qualified. I just try to make it as fun an educational as possible without coming out on the side of buffoonery.

[Paji eh Wong]

[ulsanchris]